Piccolo and Chi Chi
by Bucky
Summary: (Complete) Like many of you, the thought of these two, together, made me want to puke. But then I wrote this story, and realized that they didn't belong with anyone else... (continued in 'Goku and Bulma)
1. Default Chapter

**THE WEEK AFTER CELL WAS DEFEATED...…**

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Piccolo muttered, his words snatched from his mouth by the peeling air friction. He looked absently at the passing ground beneath him. He was flying slowly, which was stupid, he realized. It's not like delaying the encounter would somehow make his task any easier.

The small, mountain community loomed ahead, its air chilled yet friendly. It could have been just a brief pass-by to check on Gohan; something he would have done anyways, something that most likely would have sufficed…

"But you had to take it one more step, didn't you Goku," he brooded. The dull ache of anxiety tightened his chest as he remembered his friend's private words to him via King Kai when everyone else had left. The late Saiyan had hit him up in a moment of vulnerability; in a moment when he'd been so entrenched in respect for the man that Piccolo felt Goku could do no wrong.

_"Piccolo." _

"Goku?" Hadn't they already said their goodbyes?

"Listen to me," he'd said in a deep, solemn tone as rare to Goku as joviality was to Piccolo. "I want you to help Chi Chi raise Gohan."

He was too stunned to piece together arguments on why that would be a bad idea. It was, of course, but at the time he was incapable of pleading his case. Goku had just given up his life for the earth, of all things. How could Piccolo possibly say no to the man?

And so here he was, descending on Gohan's household to have one of the most dreaded conversations with the most terrifying female he'd ever met in his life.

_Chi Chi…_

She set his antennae on end. Her rage and power over Goku had always unnerved him. And more disturbing than that was the way she affected Piccolo, himself. She intimidated him, something he'd reluctantly admitted after giving Goku his word. If she said 'sit', he'd sit. If she yelled at him to leave, he would. Her tone carried that much authority.

_Well, not this time, you crazy woman. This time I'm on special orders from your own husband, and it involves Gohan. I'm not backing down…_

The expressive face of an eleven-year old boy peeked through the doorframe as Piccolo descended onto their property. Sight of the youth, as always, uplifted him.

"Hey, Piccolo!" Gohan came running up to him, stopping just short of throwing his arms around the Namek's legs. Piccolo dropped to one knee, and ruffled the kid's hair.

"Hello, Gohan."

Gohan smiled, but his eyes were heavy. Piccolo could see that the hurt of losing his father was still just under the surface and for a brief moment, Piccolo resented Goku for abandoning the boy.

He winced. _Not abandoned… Gave up his life. _There was a difference, however ambiguous it was as he painstakingly observed Gohan's dampened spirits. Besides, the boy's father had taken precautions to make sure his son was cared for, right? Even if it was at Piccolo's expense…

"What are you doing here?" he asked, and Piccolo did not miss the underlying words, not voiced, _Can you stay for a while?_

Piccolo rose to his feet, and looked forlornly at the house. "Is your mother inside, Gohan?"

Gohan frowned at him. "Yes…" Piccolo hadn't realized that his anxiety had somehow manifested itself in his expression. Gohan nudged him, the smile fading off his tender face. "Is everything okay, Piccolo?"

Piccolo took a deep breath, and pursed his lips. "Everything's fine. I need to speak with your mother, that's all."

Gohan looked at him, perplexed. "My mom?"

Piccolo felt his hands tingle in dreaded anticipation. He nodded. "Go play in the river, Gohan. I'll come and get you when the conversation is over."

"What do you want to talk to her about?"

Piccolo quieted the growl resounding in his chest. _Persistent kid… _"I'll tell you afterwards. Now go."

After a couple more suspicious and scrutinizing glances, Gohan shrugged and smiled. "Okay. Just promise you won't leave without saying goodbye."

Piccolo snorted. _How about I don't leave at all? _Gohan would be elated, as soon as Chi Chi was dealt with. "Don't worry, kid. I won't."

With that, Gohan raced off as only a prepubescent boy could to frolic in the water. Piccolo knew the conversation was going to get ugly, and the last thing Gohan needed right now was to see his mother and his mentor in a screaming match.

Resolved, Piccolo strode up to the house, and tapped on the door, only to send it shattering inwards, splintering loudly against the wall.

_Oops_…He cringed. _Damn nerves._

Chi Chi came running into the front room. She was dressed in the black garb of a widow, her hair hanging about her face like a veil. "Gohan? What just…" then she saw him, and a her eyes immediately narrowed into a scowl. "What are _you_ doing here?"

He frowned, trying to battle the butterflies that were fluttering in his stomach. "Chi Chi," he paused. It didn't matter how he phrased it. She was going to be pissed. _Straight up, then, without adornment or apology… _

She folded her arms menacingly across her chest and her left foot had started to stomp on the floor. "WELL?"

"Chi Chi," he breathed. "Goku asked me to…to…"

"Spit it out, villain, I don't have all day."

He swallowed, and took a deep breath. "Goku asked me to help you raise Gohan."

Her reaction wasn't unexpected, but it made him jump, nonetheless. Her eyes widened ferociously and her face reddened. She clenched her fists and crouched into a fighter's stance, trembling.

"He…_what_?" Her ki suddenly skyrocketed, and Piccolo found himself stunned at her power level. He blinked stupidly. _Leave it to me to bring it out in her._

Piccolo started fishing for explanations. "He didn't want Gohan to lose his skills as a fighter, and asked me-"

"You're saying that my own husband doesn't trust me to raise our only son?"

Piccolo wasn't one for sugarcoating words, even when the occasion called for it. It was certainly the impression _he'd_ gotten from Goku. He hesitantly met her belligerent eyes, and nodded.

Before he'd even realized she'd moved, a frying pan came whizzing at him and struck him in the shoulder. He flinched and snarled at her. She'd unwittingly aided him in quenching his pathetic nerves. The abrupt gesture sent him basking in a sensation much more familiar…

_Anger._

His voice rose, as he ducked and dodged another round of cooking pans. "He needs my influence, woman!" he shouted back, wishing for all the world that they could settle this by a good old fashioned battle.

"He needs YOUR influence like Master Roshi needs more PORNOGRAPHY!" She flung another dish at him, and he swatted it out of the air. "There is no way in HELL I'm going to let him be tutored by a reclusive…monstrous…evil-"

"Enough!" he barked back, wondering why in the world Goku chose _him_ over all the other Z fighters for this task; the one whom she loathed most. "I've changed and you know that!"

"Changed?" She asked incredulously, hurling another chair at him. He grunted as it smacked him in the chest. "You - the fiend who killed my husband and kidnapped my son?"

He winced. She made it sound so bad. He actually contemplated physically restraining her until she calmed down, but the thought of touching the fuming vixen made his skin crawl. He'd have to talk her into it.

"This isn't up for discussion, Chi Chi," he said lowly, and as dangerously as he could. He powered up for emphasis, letting his energies swell against the walls of the house. "I gave Goku my word."

Her face opened in blatant appall, and two seconds later Piccolo found himself skidding backwards on his ass along with half the doorframe, having been literally hurled out of the house. He gaped at her. Perhaps Gohan's amazing strength couldn't all be credited to his father…

"You come here and tell me I have no say over my own son's upbringing? And then you try to dismiss me like a housemaid?" She hovered over him, her body rigid, her face on fire.

"His talent will go to waste if you raise him alone!" Piccolo yelled from his undignified position in the dirt. "Gohan is destined for greater things than scholastic studies." He jumped up as she charged him, and levitated into the air.

She swung at him twice and then growled as he was out of her reach. "Get out of here!"

"I won't!"

"LEAVE!"

"No!"

"You're coming nowhere near my son, demon. Understand! I don't care how altruistic your intentions are. I don't want MY Gohan to be influenced by the likes of you!"

That made Piccolo furious. How dare she try to forbid him from ever seeing Gohan. The kid meant more to him than breath. Couldn't she see that?

Then he wondered what the hell Goku was thinking when he married her, the impossible female... No sooner had he thought it, than the words came blurting out. "What I don't understand," he yelled down at her belligerent form, "Is what kind-hearted Goku ever saw in a BEAST like you!"

If Chi Chi had an Achilles heel, then that was it. Slapping her face would have had less effect. He watched in surprise as her ki dropped and the rage drained from her body. Her face sagged in anguish, and her eyes teared immediately. She bit her bottom lip between her teeth, and turned her back to him. He'd hit a sore point. A _real_ sore point…

He silently cursed himself. _Agh, Piccolo…you ass. _The nuances of communication had always eluded himsomething that never mattered until now. _She just lost her husband a week ago, and here I am telling her she's an unfit parent and that Goku should never have wasted his time on her._ He'd never had enough practice in tact, and the result was that he just broke Chi Chi's spirit when he was only trying to make her see reason.

He could hear her trying to choke back the sobs. For all her temperament, Piccolo hadn't even considered that the indignant woman could HAVE a breaking point. Before he could apologize, she ran towards the house.

"Chi Chi…" he went after her, only to stop abruptly as she paused in the battered doorway. "Chi Chi," he held his hands out, and then clenched them into fists. "I...I didn't mean"

With her back still to him, she held a hand up to silence him.

Piccolo watched in uncomfortable regret as Goku's widow wrestled with her emotions. She obviously had something to say to him before going back in the house, and this time he was going to listen instead of argue. The woman who had given birth to Gohan deserved more respect, something he'd forgotten when he was dodging her pots and pans.

He waited awkwardly until finally she bowed her head without facing him, her words barely a whisper. "You can have Gohan in the afternoons, Piccolo."

He blinked. _Did she just…? _He replayed the words in his head. _Hn. She did…_ Piccolo's expression sank, feeling worse about the victory than if he'd physically beaten it out of her.

"Just remember," she said as she looked over her shoulder at him; her face flushed and wet with tears. "He's_ my _son before he's _your_ pupil."

Then she left him there feeling regret, guilt, compassion, and a whole slew of other emotions that the Namek had no idea how to deal with.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_ **

It had been six weeks, and Chi Chi held true to her concession. Well, for the most part, anyhow. Occasionally Piccolo would find himself arguing with her when she'd try to cut his sessions with Gohan short, but all in all things were working out. Piccolo stayed on the fringes of their property most of the time, his interactions with Chi Chi being tense, but civil. She even offered him water occasionally. It was almost getting comfortable, which was a good thing, considering that the arrangement was going to last until Gohan became a man.

Gohan levitated up to a rock ledge that Piccolo had been meditating on. The sun was setting, and they'd just finished for the day.

"Piccolo?"

"Hmm."

"Do you really think there's another level?"

Without moving, Piccolo peeked at the boy from the corner of his eye. "It's what we've been working towards isn't it?" He had to give Gohan a goal out of his reach, or else they would come to a plateau in their training. Even if it wasn't possible, it was something practical to strive for. "I believe that you can progress eternally, if you have the means. There could be _ten_ levels above what you reached the day you beat Cell, Gohan."

Gohan's eyes widened at the possibilities. "Wow…" He plopped down on the rock, and sat with Piccolo for several minutes of shared silence as the sun went down. Piccolo looked over at him, and noticed that the boy's large, wondrous eyes had drifted towards the heavens. _Thinking about your dad again, eh Gohan? _He reached over and clasped the boy's shoulder.

Gohan glanced at him, and then back up at the sky, the stars reflecting in his large dark irises. "I know he chose to stay in the next dimension," he said quietly. "But do you think he misses us, Piccolo?"

Another spurt of anger at Goku washed over him. When the Saiyan had left, he'd done so cheerfully, as if leaving his family and friends was the happiest decision he'd ever made. _'Don't be sad,'_ he'd said. _'I'm not.' _

They were words that Gohan remembered. They were words that the boy had taken to heart, and Piccolo caught himself-on more than one occasion-wishing the Saiyan would materialize back into this dimension, if only so he could slap him upside the head for being so callus. He hadn't even taken the time to say goodbye to his wife, of all things, even though the opportunity was at his fingertips.

Piccolo looked over to the raven-haired kid next to him. His face was as open and pure as his soul. The Namek never thought of himself as being 'happy', but he came darn close whenever he spent time with young Gohan.

_If you were my son, Gohan, I would miss you a great deal. _Then his thoughts darkened. _If you were my son, I wouldn't have stayed in the afterlife, leaving you for someone else to raise… _

"I think he misses you very much, Gohan," Piccolo said, finally choosing the right words to say. "He'd be shallow and hollow if he didn't."

Gohan returned his words with a small, sad smile, and sighed.

"You'd better get back, kid," Piccolo said, tousling his hair. No use in dwelling over things they couldn't change… "Your mom will blame_ me_ if you aren't home in time for dinner."

Gohan laughed. "Late or early, she'd still find something to blame you for."

Piccolo snorted. It was true. But he'd grown accustomed to her vehemence just as he had grown accustomed to Vegeta's malice. It was just how she was. And truth be told, he had started enjoying the verbal sparring with Chi Chi almost as much as the scrapping matches with Gohan. After all, a fight was a fight.

Gohan got up and dusted himself off when Piccolo noticed that he'd forgotten to change the kid into his training clothes. Chi Chi hated seeing her son dressed like Piccolo, but not half as much as she hated him ruining one of his only three outfits.

"Gohan, wait."

"Huh?" Gohan turned around.

"Your clothes. They've got more holes and burns in them than Frieza's corpse." Piccolo lifted his hand, and let the namekian magic do its thing. The wind drew and whirled around both of them, and in a flash Gohan was dressed in the purple sleeveless outfit after Piccolo's own fashion. The clothes Chi Chi had provided for him were in a tattered heap on the ground.

Piccolo grabbed them and tucked them under his arm. "Mr. Popo is a tailor. I'm going to get these mended before she sees them. If she asks, you left them here on accident. Understood?"

Gohan nodded and blew his breath out in a long whistle. "Whoa. Good thing you caught that, Piccolo. We would have both been in trouble. She's been extra difficult lately, being sick and all."

Piccolo noticed that she'd been more short-tempered. He thought it was something he'd done. "Sick?"

"She's been nodding off a lot lately, like she's exhausted. And she throws up sometimes, too. She doesn't tell me, but," he winced. "I can hear it."

"Hmm." Vomiting was something Piccolo hadn't experienced, and hoped he never had to. It sounded terribly undignified, not to mention uncomfortable. He shrugged. Chi Chi wasn't one to let illness slow her down. She was too strong-willed for that. "Thanks for the warning. I'll be sure to stay out of her way."

Gohan smiled, and then his eyes lit up as if he just remembered something delightful. "Oh yeah! We're having cocido tonight, my favorite! She went into town today to get the garbanzos for it." He laughed merrily and hopped into the air. "See ya later, Piccolo!"

Piccolo chuckled inwardly. _Such simple pleasures…_ "Bye kid."

After watching Gohan disappear over the closest row of mountains, Piccolo took to the evening sky with the shredded clothes tucked securely in his shirt. If he hurried, he could make it to the lookout in a half hour.

He soared through the mountain range, letting his glance fall occasionally to the terrain below. Ahead he saw the small town closest to Gohan's house with a few sparse lights illuminating the streets. It was where Chi Chi went to do 'erands'.

The thought of her, as usual, made him frown. Piccolo didn't give most people a second thought, but she on the other hand consumed more of his attention than he cared to admit-be it in the form of frustration or acute aggravation.

_Erands indeed… _He snorted. _She fills up her life with a bunch of made up responsibility,_ he thought. _Gohan was fine when I trained him for that year and he had nothing but the clothes on his back and the food he foraged. It's not like_

His thoughts were interrupted by a subliminal red flag waving in his head. He stopped abruptly, confused. What triggered it? But as soon as he asked the question, he found it. It was a ki. And it was fading…

Piccolo looked at the town below. "Probably another ancient human passing into the other world," he said to himself. He'd felt humans die before, and he let them. Who was he to intervene when nature took its due course?

He powered up to continue his flight, but then it hit him like a blow from the devil. The ki was familiar. _Real_ familiar…

He gasped. _"Chi Chi…"_

With a muttered curse, Piccolo dropped immediately. He hovered over the treetops, combing the forest floor with his keen eyes. His nails dug into the flesh of his palms. _Hang in there, Chi Chi. I'm coming… _

Several agonizing minutes passed as he searched. The weak life force grew even smaller, fueling his panic. _Dammit woman, where are you…?_

Her signal was feint, but it was definitely centralized in the area below. Just as he was ready to call out her name, he saw her.

Her body lay prone on the forest floor, and between her black hair and widow's garb, she appeared little more than just another shadow. If it hadn't been for the wheeled basket of groceries spilled beside her, he wouldn't have seen her at all.

He descended next to her, and turned her over. Her face was ashen, and her lips blue. Her eyes had rolled up into the back of her head, giving no sign of consciousness. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Chi Chi!"

Her eyelids fluttered but that was all.

_Shit!_ "CHI CHI!"

Nothing.

Piccolo pulled off his weighted cape and painstakingly wrapped her in it, hugging her unconscious form closely to him. Exploding into the night sky, he took her to the only healer he knew.

_Dende…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

Chi Chi felt consciousness wash over her like a bucket of ice water. Wholly rejuvenated, she perked open her eyes to see two green faces inches from her own, staring at her with unmasked expressions of brow-drawn concern. The larger one's shoulders sagged as he exhaled a breath of relief.

"Piccolo?" She frowned at him, only to see his visage immediately contort in anger. _Yep. That's him all right. _"Where am I?" She looked at the other green alien who was staring at her as if she had two heads. "And who's the pint-sized you?"

"I'm Dende-" the little one offered, only to be cut off by Piccolo's crescendoing growl.

The larger Namek rocked back on his heels and slashed the air in a furious gesture. "If you were so exhausted, then why didn't you ask for help!"

Then she remembered. On her walk home from the town she'd gotten horribly dizzy, and had passed out. She gasped. Gohan's dinner! She pegged him with a disapproving glare. "Well, did you feed Gohan in my absence, Piccolo? Or did you let him starve!"

His eyes widened in belligerence. "YOU ALMOST DIED, CHI CHI!"

"What are you talking about?" she countered, just as irate.

"I almost couldn't find you, thanks to your stupid black garb," he yelled. "It's been seven weeks. Goku is gone. Get over it!"

"How DARE _you_…" she hissed. "Telling me when it's time to stop mourning…" She flipped up on her feet and got in his face. "I'll mourn until I die, if I see fit!"

"Which was nearly tonight!"

As she opened her mouth to bark back, she noticed familiar clothing sprouting out of the V in Piccolo's shirt. "Hey!" She snatched it out before he could stop her, and let the ruined shirt and trousers dangle from her hand. "Damn you, Piccolo. Look at what you did to Gohan's clothes." She shook them in his face. "These don't grow on trees, you backwater buffoon. They cost money, which is something WE DON'T HAVE!"

Piccolo spat. "Gohan doesn't need clothes. He survived fine with me for that year without-"

"He needs to be able to function in society, and part of that life is having LOTS of clothes and LOTS of money."

"Uh, guys?" Dende interjected, only to be ignored.

Piccolo snorted and batted the air in front of him as if it could somehow switch off her mouth. "Pity Dende healed you," he growled, his voice growing in decibel with each word, "You were much more pleasant when you were UNCONSCIOUS!"

"Excuse me-" Dende tried again, only to be pushed aside by Chi Chi as she went up and jabbed a finger at Piccolo's chest.

"Don't you even _think_ of teaching my Gohan your skewed theories on life, you socially retarded hermit! He's already more influenced by you than I can stomach."

His mouth gaped, and she found herself pleased that she had pushed him beyond words. Then she took in his appearance, and couldn't resist one more jab. "I mean, look at yourself. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look wearing that turban without its cape?"

He flinched as though she'd hit him, and threw his turban to the floor, his fangs gleaming white behind his lips. "I took it off to wrap YOU in-"

"GUYS!" Dende yelled.

Both Chi Chi and Piccolo spun around. "WHAT?" they screamed in unison.

Dende stood there, his face serious and strained. "There's something I noticed during the healing that you need to know." He eyed them both solemnly, no doubt making sure he wouldn't be interrupted again. "When I laid my hands on your unconscious form, Chi Chi, I felt not one, but _two_ life forces…"

Still reeling from the fight with Piccolo, Chi Chi shook her head, not understanding. Dende walked up and pointed to her abdomen, and then frowned up at Piccolo. "She's pregnant."

Denial stole the words from her mouth. But the stunned silence only lasted two seconds, when Piccolo snapped at Dende in the same tone he'd been using with her.

"Don't look at me like that, boy. It's not _my_ child."

Chi Chi quirked an eye at him. _Huh? What would make him say such a silly thing?_ The news of her pregnancy fought for her attention as she looked at the two namekians locked in each others' stare. Some silent communication was going on between them.

"It's not!" Piccolo reinforced.

_Imbecile…_ Chi Chi turned on him. "Of _course_ it isn't yours, ya neutered lizard."

He choked and spun on her, his face ready to fire back.

And then the news finally settled in. It hit her like the side of a mountain.

_I'm pregnant… Oh…no… _

Piccolo felt his earlier anger fade away as the Moreno female cupped her hands to her mouth to stifle a shocked cry. Her eyes grew saucer-wide, and she took three steps backwards only to turn her back to them.

Dende caught his eyes, and he shrugged. _As if things weren't complicated enough already… _His thoughts trailed to the father. _Good job, Goku. Use her while you're here, and then don't stick around to take responsibility for the consequences…_

Chi Chi's head hung, and she combed her fingers into her wind-blown hair and clasped them behind her neck. Piccolo could hear her labored breathing, but had no idea what to say. This was way out of his area of expertise.

A long, drawn out silence passed as he and Dende watched her struggle for composure. Just as he thought she might cry, he heard a deep, shuddering intake of breath. Chi Chi dropped her hands to her sides, clenched them into fists twice, and slowly nodded. When she finally turned to face them her emotions were hidden behind a shadowed, unreadable expression.

"Piccolo," she said quietly, her voice hoarse. "There's an overnight clinic in town. I need you to take me there."

Piccolo nodded mutely.

* * *

Piccolo crouched uncomfortably in the waiting room of the clinic, trying to ignore the uncomfortable stares of passing staff. The chairs were too small, and the ceiling too low, not to mention it wreaked of those toxic cleaning solutions that the humans used to keeps things sanitary.

_I didn't volunteer for this,_ he thought in numbed indignation._ I signed up for Gohan…not his mother. _And yet Piccolo had come to the conclusion tonight that even though Goku hadn't phrased it as such, the two were a package deal. He cringed.

And now there was going to be another one… _Ugh…_

An elderly woman in blue scrubs came out down the hall just then. Her eyes widened dramatically when she saw him, and then her face crinkled in a warm smile. She came up and grabbed his hand, shaking it vigorously.

"Congratulations, sir."

He looked down at her, dumbly. _Congratulations?_

She continued, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Now, have you ever been around a pregnant woman before?"

Speechless, he just shook his head slowly.

"Okay. Well, she's anemic. That's why she passed out earlier, so she needs to take an iron supplement daily, not to mention get extra rest," she leaned in a little closer and winked at him. "Which means YOU need to help her around the house a little more."

"Help…her…around the house?"

The woman nodded. "And you'll have to be patient with her as she'll be prone to violent mood swings."

"What!" The news shocked the bewilderment right out of him. He grabbed the woman's shoulders, eyeing her dreadfully. "But she's….already…_terrible_…"

The woman chuckled at his reaction and pried his hands from her shoulders. "You'll be fine. Just keep reminding yourself that it is temporary. She should be back to her old self shortly after the baby is born."

"No…" Piccolo stuttered on, wondering why this woman found his plight so humorous. "You…don't…understand…"

Just then Chi Chi came out, and stopped when she saw the look on his face. "What are _you_ freaking out for, demon? I'M the one who has to carry and deliver it!" She stormed by him, hooking her hand in his belt as she passed, tugging him behind her. "Now take me home. I've got a son to feed!"


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4 _**

"Pregnant?" Gohan asked incredulously as he gawked at Piccolo's bowed form. "No way!"

Piccolo nodded solemnly, without looking up. It was the day after, and the boy had just arrived for training. For some odd reason Chi Chi hadn't told him, and Piccolo felt that he needed to know, if only to understand that her recent outbursts weren't his fault.

"Wow…" Then Gohan did something totally unexpected. He burst out in laughter and tackled Piccolo to the ground. "I'm gonna have a baby brother…or sister! WOO-HOO!" With that he leapt off and started doing summersaults in the air.

Piccolo watched him, stunned. He'd been so immersed in the terrifying concept of a pregnant Chi Chi that he'd neglected to realize that this just might be good news to young Gohan who had spent his entire life around adults. The boy could use a comrade, and truth be told, his merry reaction was a great deal more appropriate than Piccolo's own. It was almost humbling.

Gohan's honest delight rubbed off on him, and Piccolo found himself smiling internally as he pushed himself back up into a sitting position from Gohan's playful attack. _What a kid. This baby couldn't ask for a better older brother. _

Finally the boy settled, his face threatening to split in two from the grin that stretched all the way to his earlobes. He descended next to Piccolo. "She doesn't even look pregnant," he said. "Maybe it's because she doesn't let it slow her down any."

Piccolo perked, alarmed. "She should. The doctor said-"

"Pssht!" Gohan rolled his eyes. "Like mom will listen to a doctor. She just took off into town again to run some more errands."

"She's supposed to be resting!" Images flitted across his mind of finding Chi Chi half-dead like the night before, and valiant efforts to fly her to the lookout only to lose her on the way there. He thought of what would happen to Gohan if his mother died, along with his potential sibling. It would ruin the boy. _Foolish, inconsiderate woman…_ Piccolo jumped up. "Start training. I'll be back."

With that, he burst off without waiting for Gohan's bewildered protest.

It only took him a few minutes to track her down. She was standing in line outside a building with a big plywood sign that said, 'La Caridad de San Lucus'.

_Better stay hidden until she's done,_ he thought grumpily, hoping that Gohan was training while he was wasting his time babysitting the boy's mother. He hovered in the air behind the nearest building.

The line shortened, and he watched curiously as Chi Chi took several items over the counter, and plopped them in her basket, cloth and food rations being the bulk of them.

Something about the scene bothered him, and it was more than just the sadness in her eyes, or the sag in her shoulders… But try as he may, he was unable to put his finger on it.

Her basket overflowing with goods, she thanked the lady behind the counter and started to take off down the street. Shaking himself, Piccolo flew over to her and plopped down in front of her, his arms folded tightly across his chest.

She gawked up at him, her face open in naked surprise. "What are you doing here?" She was even too stunned to throw her usual bite in her tone.

"You're supposed to be resting," he growled, trying his best to keep his lips from snarling up over his fangs. "And you're supposed to ask for help!"

She shook the shock from her frame and scowled up at him. I'm pregnant, you dolt. Not handicapped!" She stormed past him. "Now get out of my way!"

Piccolo grabbed her wrist, and she spun on him, appalled. "I did this before without any assistance. And I'll do it again!"

"Last time you had Goku!"

She snorted. "What makes you think _he_ was any help? That man wouldn't know someone was in trouble unless they had a machete sticking out of their head."

Without further ado, Piccolo yanked the basket from her with one hand.

"HEY!"

Then he bowed down and threw her bodily over his shoulder with the other, bracketing his arm across the back of her knees.

"What are you doing!" She screamed, her words muffled in the material of his cape.

"I'm taking you home." Just as he was about to ascend in the air, a big yellow truck rode by and stopped in front of the building where Chi Chi had purchased her goods. On it, in big sepia brown letters read 'The Goodwill'.

And the thing that had nagged at him earlier about the scene made itself manifest now. "Chi Chi…" he said, more disturbed than molested. "That place you were just at. It's a _charity…_"

She slugged his back with her fists as she tried to break free. "Of COURSE it's a charity, you numbskull! How else am I going to provide for my family? It's not like my husband ever bothered to get a job!"

That bothered him. It bothered him a lot, but he kept tight-lipped as he ascended into the air with the furious woman slung heftily over his shoulder.

"Dammit, Piccolo," she grunted. "This pressure can't be good for the baby, you know!"

He startled. His shoulder _was_ digging into her gut, after all. He quickly shifted her to his front, positioning her against his chest with his forearm. She squirmed.

"This…isn't very...comfortable...either..."

"Then help me out and hold onto me, you obstinate female!" he reprimanded. "I've only got two hands and your basket is in my other one!"

Scowling, she did as he said, and clasped her hands securely behind his neck. It put her face awkwardly close to his, and he glared ahead, growing increasingly uncomfortable with her proximity.

After a minute of strained silence, he flicked a glance down only to see her staring up at him in scrutiny. Her mouth was still frowning, but her eyes were crinkled with amusement.

"What?" he growled.

A slight pause. "You," she mused. "You fight back."

He snorted. "I'm not Goku."

Piccolo half expected her to get emotional again, like the first day when he'd called her a beast. Instead, the smile in her eyes finally caught up to her mouth and she looked absently at the passing ground below. "No," she said. "You're definitely not Goku."

She'd never looked at him without that hard edge before. It caught Piccolo completely off guard, and he felt a flush begin to tinge his cheeks. Thank Kami they were already at the house. Landing softly on the grass, he plopped her down and dropped her basket.

He headed in the opposite direction of his training grounds with Gohan, and quick on the uptake, Chi Chi called him on it. "Hey! Where are you going?"

Piccolo paused and looked over his shoulder. "I'm going to run an 'errand'." With that, he hopped into the sky and shot towards his next destination.

_Hercule City._

* * *

Hercule was busy hanging the most recent media poster of him in his trophy room, when the balcony doors burst open, sending shards of glass splintering across the floor. 

He jumped back as a tall green fellow with pointed ears, and a white cape appeared in the room. The low-drawn brow was easily recognizable, as was everything else about him.

He was one of the fighters…the REAL fighters that destroyed Cell that fateful day seven weeks ago. It was a victory that had saved the world…a victory that Hercule had stolen from them and used to his own advantage.

"I'd heard you turned our win into a money pit, you slovenly coward," he grated in a deep, demonic voice. "But naming the city after yourself?"

"Oh…_shit_…" Hercule stumbled backwards, tripped and farted when his butt hit the floor. The green man grimaced, and snarled his disgust. Hercule continued to stammer. "Please don't kill me! No one saw _how _Cell was defeated, and I thought it w-w-would be a grand opportunity for my career-"

"You sit here living like a _king_ while the _real_ hero has to get his sustenance from a charity." The powerful fighter suddenly appeared at Hercule's side and lifted him up by his afro. "A charity!"

Hercule cried out in pain. "I'll give you whatever you want! I'll confess it wasn't me!"

"We don't want your fame, you pathetic weakling. You can keep that." He dropped him none-too-gently and Hercule rubbed his head vigorously where his hair had been ripped out. The mysterious warrior continued, "I was thinking more along the lines of a deal…a _business_ deal."

Hercule timidly met the stranger's narrowed eyes, daring to believe for the first time since the warrior burst into his trophy room that he just might survive the encounter after all. "I…I'm sure that whatever it is," Hercule stammered stupidly, "Something can be arranged…"

* * *

Chi Chi was leaning over the sink, washing the dinner dishes when Piccolo swung open the front door. She turned around and frowned at him. She'd just put on a new yellow sundress, and shredded her heavy black clothes. But the last thing she wanted the egomaniac to think was that he'd influenced her decision to stop wearing widow's garb... 

Even though he had.

"I was going to stop mourning around now, anyways. It was nothing you said," she huffed. "And just where have you been? I let Gohan go play with Icarus-"

Her words caught in her throat as he dropped a heavy, black duffle bag on the wooden table.

"What's that?" she asked, stepping away from the sink.

Without excuse or explanation, Piccolo turned to leave when she noticed a small metallic gizmo latched onto the Namek's belt.

Chi Chi choked. "Why, Piccolo… What on earth are you doing with a cell phone?"

He stopped in the doorframe, and said quietly without turning around, "The strongest being on the planet should not have to live off the charity of others." Then he looked over his shoulder and met her stare, his expression rueful, if not kind. "And neither should his mother."

With that he swooshed out, closing the door behind him. Stunned, Chi Chi turned her focus to the bag in front of her, clumsily struggling with its zipper until it peeled open. A small cry escaped her mouth.

It was full of money.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 5 _**

**SIX AND A HALF MONTHS LATER…**

Piccolo and Gohan fought awkwardly with the wind currents as they balanced a huge crate of marble slabs between them. Chi Chi's new two-story house was close to being finished. There were occasional setbacks, of course, like when the contractor ordered the wrong flooring, such as now. In said moments Piccolo and Gohan would have to come to the rescue to save Chi Chi from another red-faced lapse of control. She'd already gone into premature labor once.

Piccolo sighed and shook his head. The woman was stretched way too big for her frame, and the havoc it wreaked on her emotions was something they all paid for. He doubted the new house would be finished before the baby came, but he humored her nonetheless. Better that than the alternative…

Memories of their last fight flitted across his mind. It was over nothing, as usual, but she'd ended up having contractions that night and they had to rush her to the hospital to stop the labor. He shuddered. If she had lost the little baby, it would have been his fault. The thought made his gut ache, and thus the decision to take her verbal lashings without retaliation. At least until the baby was born…

"Man," Gohan started. "Did you see the looks on those guys faces when we picked up the crates?"

Piccolo smirked and nodded, noting gratefully that there was amusement in Gohan's tone instead of hurt. The boy was fortunate. If you looked human and did something extraordinary, then you were dubbed a super hero. If you were a green, pointy-eared alien who did something extraordinary, you were labeled a freak. The namek was relieved that Gohan wouldn't have to face the same ostracism that Piccolo had faced his whole life. It was a good and valid reason why he never went out of his way to make friends.

He peeked serendipitously over at the perpetually smiling boy across from him. _Not that I don't need them_, he thought begrudgingly.

Suddenly, the cell phone attached to his belt rang. The noise was acutely annoying to his hearing; something manifest by the number of phones he'd already smashed for the offending sound.

It rang again.

"Aren't you going to get that, Piccolo?" Gohan asked innocently.

Piccolo quieted a growl low in his chest. "That pompous parody of a fighter gives me more petty work than your mother," Piccolo complained, seeing his vision narrow through the frown now on his face. "Last time he had me chase down an idiot who had stolen his champion's belt."

The phone continued ringing, and he continued ignoring it.

Gohan laughed. "Well, at least he only calls about once a week," then the boy's eyes disappeared in his smile. "And it pays really REALLY well! I know mom doesn't complain."

Piccolo snorted. "Not about the money anyways…" He yanked the phone off his belt with one hand and held it up to his ear while balancing the crate with the other. "What do you want?" He barked into it.

"Uh, Piccolo," Gohan said. "You have it upside down again."

Piccolo snarled in aggravation and flipped it. "Yeah?" He was startled to hear Chi Chi's frantic voice on the other line. So startled that he nearly dropped both the crate and the phone.

Gohan quickly compensated for Piccolo's distraction.

"PICCOLO!" she cried.

He winced and held the phone away from his ear. "What's wrong?"

Chi Chi's voice followed in a hysterical cadence. "My-water-just-broke! You-have-to-come-home-now!"

Piccolo frowned in confusion. "But the plumbing isn't going to be installed until next week, Chi-"

"NO YOU IDIOT! I'm in LABOR!" she screamed. "IN…LABOR!"

Then he did drop the phone. "Gohan!"

"What is it?"

"She's having the baby!"

Gohan blinked. "Right NOW? But she's not due for three more weeks"

"Yes, now!"

With that, they doubled their speed, which was an amazing feat considering that Piccolo felt as though his heart were going to oscillate right out of his chest.

Panic threw his body into a frenzied hyper drive. _This is insane_, he thought breathlessly as he struggled to keep the crate balanced as they soared back to the house. _The last time I was this scared was when that dip shit, Goku, gave Cell a senzu bean_.

* * *

. 

He could hear her mandating last-minute orders to the few construction workers on site as they descended. Piccolo ran with Gohan in tow to the frame of the new house, and froze when he saw her. The sight of the laboring woman only worsened his nerves. Chi Chi's hair was fritzed around her head like a wild shrubbery, her face a crimson-red, bug-eyed distortion of her usual visage. She was flinging fingers in angry gestures, threatening the workers that they'd better not slack off while she was gone.

"Mom!" Gohan cried.

She spun around. "Finally!" She took a step towards them and then collapsed to the floor clutching her stomach.

Gohan ran up to her and hovered over her curled form. She pushed him away, and looked at Piccolo. "Namek! Chair! Now!"

As if his legs had will of their own Piccolo suddenly found himself in the house, hooking his arm through the wooden rocking chair. He met them back outside.

"Gohan," she said, sweat dripping down her face. "You stay here and monitor the construction workers."

"But mom-"

"Do it! No woman takes her son to have a baby!" she screamed. "Piccolo, let's go!"

He gulped, "Me?"

She doubled over again and cried out in pain.

"Uh, right," he stammered, grabbing the back of the chair and taking flight. It wasn't half a second before Gohan's yell stopped him. He looked back down to see Chi Chi shaking her fist at him, screaming obscenities.

He'd forgotten her.

As he swooped down again to help Goku's pregnant widow into the chair, he considered it was a good thing they were going to a hospital.

He might need to be admitted when it was all over.

* * *

. 

By the time they made it to the hospital, Chi Chi had been reduced to exhausted moans. He'd been arguing with her for the last five minutes of the flight, and the argument consisted of '…Piccolo…I want to push…' With his desperate response, 'NO! NO PUSHING!'

The medical people, after getting over the shock of seeing him, swarmed over her and placed her in a gurney. He was relieved when they wheeled her away. Wiping the moisture off his face with both hands, he plopped down right there, cross-legged on the lobby floor. _At least my part is over,_ he thought, not even caring about the numerous stares he drew. And for the first time in Piccolo's life he understood why humans died prematurely of heart attacks.

"Uh, Mr. Piccolo?"

He opened his eyes and turned his head slowly in dread anticipation of what was to come. A nurse stood there with her hands clasped behind her back.

He quirked a brow in reluctant acknowledgement.

"Your wife-"

"She's not my wife!"

The woman cleared her throat. "Well, she wants you in there with her."

He felt his jaw drop and he gawked at her incredulously. A few choice images of Chi Chi during childbirth popped in his head, shocking all words from his tongue. So he just shook his head mutely and scooted away from the nurse as though she were the Grim Reaper.

"Sir, please…" she eyed him with a hint of emotion in her eye, tenting her hands in front of her in a compassionate plea, "No woman should have to go through this alone."

He opened his mouth to say the word 'NO', but before he could mutter out a sound, his legs had already popped him up and were following the nurse back to Chi Chi's room on some twisted volition of their own. His heart raced. _What the...?_

He could hear her screaming all the way down the hall, and when they got to the room he thanked the planet Namek that the business end of her delivery was facing away from the door, well concealed behind a number of sheets. But still, it wasn't pretty.

_It's hell,_ he thought in grim panic. _I've landed in hell…_

"He's here," the nurse said. Chi Chi swiveled her head to face the door, her expression beyond pained.

"Piccolo!" She shifted uncomfortably. "Get your green…ass…over…here…" she panted, beads of sweat streaming down her face. Her brows were drawn in the middle in an honest plea, and despite his reservations, Piccolo found himself standing next to her.

"Alright, I can see the head," the doctor coaxed, peering at her 'other end' like it was a video game. "Ready?"

She clutched Piccolo's hand in a death grip, and suddenly being so connected to the process, he was terrified, the jitters spinning like spiders up and down his spine.

"This huuuuurrrrts!" Chi Chi cried.

"Push!"

"UUUUGGGHHH!"

"AAAAGGGHHH!" Piccolo's thunderous roar echoed Chi Chi's cry as she crunched his fingers with strength worthy of a Saiyan. He bit his lower lip and tilted his head to the ceiling, trying to tune out the pain in his hand and the wet noises of the baby being born. He'd never been one to whimper, but in this moment the warrior came damn close.

"One more time! We got it. We got it!" The doctor coached.

"Hmmph…!" Chi Chi leaned forward, veins popping out of her neck and forehead, teeth bared, hair matted to her face… And then…

Piccolo's breath caught as a helium-pitched whine filled the room. It was a bleating sound that seemed to penetrate everything, and he wondered how it was that all these humans could stay standing, when he, one of the strongest beings on the planet, had to fight to keep his knees from buckling. He slowly looked down as the doctor held up a squirming, shriveled, blood-coated, discolored…

_…beautiful, half-Saiyan baby_… Piccolo's throat constricted as he was suddenly overwhelmed by sensations completely foreign to him, and the only words that came trickling off of his quivering lips were, "Chi Chi…" he swallowed, "…it's a _boy_."

"It is…?" Her question was more of a sob, and with tears streaming down her face she reached her arms out and they placed the baby on her stomach. And it looked like the very emotion that was sapping at Piccolo's gruff resolve was displayed in perfect wholeness on Chi Chi's face. As ragged as she was, laughing while crying, exhausted while empowered, undignified while majestic, the woman was simply…_radiant._

"So what's the name?" A grinning nurse asked as she lifted the baby from Chi Chi to clean him off.

Chi Chi looked thoughtful for a moment, her haggard appearance doing nothing to dim the gleam in her eye. "Goten," she said softly, and then as an afterthought looked to Piccolo. "What do you think?"

He instinctively stepped back as if it would somehow remove him from this situation entirely. Too many weird emotions were tweaking his heart rate, posture, sweat glands… And since when did his opinion matter? "…me?"

She nodded.

"I, uh…think,"_ come on, you oaf_, he snapped at himself…_say the name_…"Go-ten…is fine."

Chi Chi's smile pleasantly lit her visage, and Piccolo found that he couldn't take his eyes off her. He wasn't about to analyze why.

Suddenly the nurse was in his face with the clean, black-haired bundle named Goten. She held the baby up expectantly to him. Piccolo gawked at her, and then at Chi Chi, and then at baby Goten, and then at his hands…

"You can hold him, Piccolo," Chi Chi said, with a hint of amusement in her face. "Go on. He can't hurt you."

Then, as if his stunned silence was an affirmative, the nurse dropped the baby in his arms. The warmth from little Goten somehow seeped through the blanket, and into his hands. But when it spread up his arms and through his chest and down to his toes, an alarm sounded in his head. He recognized it as old Kami's voice.

_You think Gohan changed you, my boy? That cataclysm in your life won't even compare to how this one will reshape your view of the world…_

Piccolo searched the scrunched face of the infant, feeling an acute need to protect, mold, nurture… He shook himself.

_Nurture? Me? _Holding the newborn that he had watched come into this world, Piccolo could only sum it up in totally inadequate words.

_Kami,_ he thought wildly. _I've already consigned myself to be this baby's father…_


	6. Chapter 6

**_Chapter 6 _**

**ONE MONTH LATER**

_Ah, finally…_

Piccolo breathed a sigh of relief as the twelve-pound bundle shut his eyelids and lay soundly in the nook of his arm. Looking to make sure Gohan or Chi Chi weren't around, Piccolo let a small smile narrow his eyes and lift the corners of his mouth. _I love looking at you when you sleep, kid._

He gently traced a taloned finger down little Goten's soft, chubby cheek, and watched his tiny chest rise and fall with each regulated breath. _You trust me enough to sleep in my arms when most people are terrified of me. As well they should be. I'm mean, scary-looking, dangerous, unaffectionate, cold-hearted… _He sighed.

_I've got more defenses up than a medieval fortress, and yet you've gotten past every single one, because you're too young to know they're even there. _He chuckled inwardly. _Just like your brother._

He gently laid baby Goten in his crib, and covered him with blankets. He didn't get to put the boy to sleep very often. Not that Chi Chi wouldn't let him, but it was still too against his grain to offer. So occasionally, he just hung around in the evenings waiting for her to get tired and ask for his help.

Fortunately, Gohan knew him well enough to step out so Chi Chi had no choice but to ask Piccolo. His thoughts trailed to the boy's mother. She looked worse than usual this evening.

He exited the bedroom upstairs in the new home, and found Gohan whittling a wood flute outside.

Gohan smiled. "He's a cute little guy, isn't he?"

Piccolo nodded once, letting his eyes crinkle in agreement. "How's your mother?"

Gohan looked up at him, the smile fading slightly. "Not too happy," he sighed. "That after-birth sad stuff-

"Postpartum depression," Piccolo corrected, having paid clear attention to the doctor's warnings for his own sake.

"Post..postum depression," Gohan frowned and continued. "Anyway, she said it lasted two months when I was born. So, she should get over it soon enough, I guess."

"Hmm." Piccolo hated to admit it, but he almost preferred her yelling at him to saying nothing at all. Moping around all day didn't suit her. It made HIM depressed, and it wasn't even his problem. "Well, goodnight Gohan."

"Goodnight."

Piccolo walked into the trees towards a spot that he'd claimed as his own at the side of the mountain. Being in no rush, he took his time and enjoyed the evergreen scent and moon shadows that stretched across the forest floor.

And then he saw her - sitting atop a rock in the center of a quaint meadow, he shoulders slumped, head tilted back at the night sky... Chi Chi hadn't noticed him, and he shifted to go around her, but something made him stand his ground.

_It's none of my business,_ he thought habitually. _She wouldn't want me prying. _But then he observed her profile; with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, her expression weighted down with whatever thoughts that ailed her spirit... Her hair was loose around her shoulders - not that she'd left it down intentionally so much as the band that had held it together wasn't doing its job. He could hear the shudders in her breath as the moonlight reflected off the moisture on her face.

_She's crying… _

He clenched and unclenched his fists in indecision. _Oh, hell…_

Piccolo walked up to her, purposefully making noise so that she would know he was there.

"Chi Chi…" He only said her name because he had no idea what else to say. Consoling a crying female was something more foreign to him than 'shooting the bull', and he just stood there, frozen, hoping she'd start speaking. As a matter of fact, he hoped she'd do _all_ the speaking.

After a long, uncomfortable silence, she sniffed and looked over at him, her face as sincerely sad as Piccolo had ever seen it. Something tightened in his chest and he looked down at his feet, fighting a weird, ridiculous urge to give her a hug.

"You know," came her soft but strained voice. "I don't think he ever loved me, Piccolo."

He didn't have to ask whom. He knew. Before he was aware of what he was doing, Piccolo had moved himself next to her rock, and leaned against it with his arms folded and his head bowed. Why, he had no idea. Nothing much of what he'd been doing lately had been premeditated.

She sighed convulsively. "You know, I locked Goku into a marriage commitment with me before he even knew what the word meant." She blinked and another set of tears rolled down her cheeks. "Not much of a foundation."

He said nothing. It's not like _he_ had any clue as to how the institution of marriage worked.

She sniffed, and wiped her eyes with the back of one hand. "Not that he wasn't playful, or good. He was," she said. "But it sometimes seemed like his family was more of an afterthought than a priority."

Piccolo would have countered her words, had he not secretly wondered the same thing. Instead, he stated the obvious. "If he hadn't focused so thoroughly on his training, Chi Chi, then we'd all be dead."

"Right," she stated dryly. Piccolo caught a note of sarcasm in her tone. "I'm sure that reasoning _completely_ justifies his long absence after defeating Frieza."

"He stayed to learn a new technique"

She hissed, and her expression darkened. "Goku mastered the fifty-year kamehameha in one try. What makes you think it could have possibly taken him nearly _three years_ to learn Instant Transmission?"

Piccolo held his tongue. Unlike most, Chi Chi sounded unexpectedly rational in the depths of her despair.

"That was such a big chunk of Gohan's life he missed out on," her hands clenched into fists, and it suddenly became clear to Piccolo how much Chi Chi _loved_ her son. "And now this…" Her voice cracked. "Abandoning his family completely when he had the chance to be wished back, leaving me here with a baby who'll never know his father…"

"He did it to protect the earth-"

"A job more easily accomplished while he was alive!" she snapped, her teeth clenched and eyes wet. "There was nothing altruistic about it, Piccolo. He was BORED with life here. The next dimension promised more adventure, undiscovered territory..." She buried her face in her hands, her next words were muffled. "...a life without a nagging wife..." She hiccupped and began to outright weep. "_I drove him away_!"

Her tears evoked such strong, unfamiliar emotions in him that Piccolo panicked, and nearly flew away. But there was something about what she just said. He didn't agree with it.

"You're wrong, Chi Chi."

She continued as though he'd said nothing, her soft sounds of sadness penetrating his ears and ricocheting all the way down to his toes.

"Chi Chi," he said more firmly, suddenly finding his large green hand on her slender shoulder for..._comfort?_ He shook himself. "You're wrong."

"What do you know?" she said looking up at him, not so much in argument as in plea. He could almost hear her words. _Please convince me it's not true!_

His mouth opened and closed…twice. Piccolo hadn't thought he'd have to supply a reason. He hadn't thought _why_ he knew Goku's leaving had nothing to do with her… He just did. "Because…" he searched dumbly for an answer. "Because you didn't drive me away."

She looked up at him confused. He looked back at her, confused. After several confusing seconds, she broke the awkward moment by smiling ruefully through the tears. And Piccolo realized that now all her attention was on him - something that both relieved him and made him nervous.

"Your job, your daily dedication to Gohan - even your presence at Goten's birth. It's odd, Piccolo, but I think you're more committed to our family than Goku ever was. And you're only here out of obligation."

_Obligation? _Piccolo thought about the way Goten would close his chubby fist around his taloned thumb, or how Gohan often sat by him while he meditated, or how Chi Chi herself would leave a large drink out for him every evening, just in case he decided to stop by. _Obligation_… He snorted. _It's way more complicated than that by now. _

Piccolo removed his hand, not too thrilled about the brief self-analysis he'd just experienced. _I came here to figure you out, woman, not myself…_ Clearing his throat, he contemplated her depression since Goten was born, and wondered how much of it was due to her hurt over Goku.

"How often do you think about this?"

"Lately?" she asked emotionally, resting her chin on her knees. "All the time."

Then it hit him. She was insecure. The thread lead to an idea of awesome brilliance. When _he_ felt insecure about his skills, he trained. She needed to train, but for what? And then something else struck him. She never took time to build herself up. Every second of her waking hours was dedicated, not in part, but in whole to her children.

"You need time for yourself, Chi Chi."

She looked at him as if that were the most abstract idea she'd ever heard. "Myself?"

Piccolo nodded, trying to maintain his customary frown in light of his new discovery. "Consider this. Free time. What would you do with it?"

He was pleased to watch her expression turn thoughtful, completely re-directed away from her sorrows.

After several seconds, she finally met his eyes. "I'd like to have time to exercise and get my body back," she said wistfully. Piccolo mentally buffed his knuckles on his shirt as she continued. "And shopping. Now that we have money-" she gave him a smile right then that made the blood rush to his face.

"I'd like to use it for fun. Not for needs, but fun. Like Bulma. You know; clothes, hairstyles, automobiles, gadgets… And maybe even start a little part-time career. Just to have something else to focus on besides diapers and dinners."

He was stunned. In the past few seconds she had literally transformed, and just when he thought she was finished, her eyes lit up and pegged him with an enthusiastic stare. "And _flying_, Piccolo. I'd want you or Gohan to teach me how…" But then her face sank. "At least that's what I'd do if I had the time…"

Piccolo cursed himself. He hadn't meant to give her false hope. How could she get time…to… _Ah!_ "Hire someone to do the chores."

"Chores?" she asked.

"You know. All that made up responsibility you take on, like errands, cleaning, laundry…"

She pursed her lips, and shook her head. "I'd thought about doing that anyway, but I'm still stuck at home with the baby twenty-four seven. And I don't feel right about asking Gohan to watch him. He's got his studies in the morning and training in the afternoons. And besides…he's just a boy himself."

Piccolo swallowed. _Do I dare? It'd cut in on my meditation…_ He took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. _Oh, what the hell…_

"I'll watch Goten for you in the mornings," he said quietly, "if you like."

She turned her head slowly to him, pathetically hopeful. He couldn't help it. He tried to suppress it, but a smile somehow curled his lips up all the way over his fangs. This do-gooder stuff had quite an effect on his spirits. "Yes," he confirmed. "Starting tomorrow."

She looked like she wanted to…be affectionate…with him. He quickly turned his back to her and folded his arms back across his chest. "I'll see you in the morning, Chi Chi."

With that, Piccolo briskly walked out of the moonlit clearing before he did anything else against his nature. All this compassion was causing him to have an identity crisis.

* * *

. 

**THE NEXT MORNING**

Chi Chi took a deep breath, and looked at herself in the full-length mirror of her stand-in closet. The black sports bra and spandex shorts were old and too small, but they'd have to do until she was able to buy new workout clothes.

The thought made her giggle as she wrapped her hair in a pony tail. _Workout clothes… Exercise… Me. For myself. _It was a good thing Piccolo walked away when he did last night, because namek or not, she was about to kiss him for being so kind.

Intoxicated with her newfound freedom, Chi Chi exited the room and skipped down the hall and peeked her head in Gohan's room where he was studying vigorously. "Gohan?"

"Yeah, mo-" he turned and saw her, and he gasped. "Whoa…"

"I know. I know. That's what I'm going running for. To tighten back up."

Gohan laughed nervously. "No. It's just that I'm not used to seeing more of you than your face is all."

"Oh."

"You look good, ma."

_How sweet…_ She cleared her throat. "Now I don't want you playing with Piccolo and Goten while I'm gone, understand? You keep your head in those books."

"I know," he turned back around, the smile still splitting his face.

"I'll be back shortly."

"Okay."

"If you need anything-"

"I got it mom," Gohan laughed. "Go!"

She smiled and left him, making her way down the stairs, two at a time. Piccolo heard her coming and peeked at her casually out of the corner of his eye.

He did a double take. The namek blinked.

He blinked again. His jaw dropped in some unfinished thought as his eyes trickled up and down her body, head to toe.

It immediately made her self-conscious. "I know! Give me a break! It's only been a month since I had Goten-"

He shook himself visibly. "I…not…I mean…" He cleared his throat, and looked down, a maroon flush coloring his cheeks. "Where did it all go?" he asked stupidly, flicking a bewildered glance back at her face.

Wary, she frowned down at him. "Where did what go?"

His mouth opened and shut, then opened again, fangs hanging decoratively behind his lips. "It's just that… Well. You were _huge_," he stammered. "And now you're…_not_." He winced as if giving himself a mental beating for not sounding as eloquent as he normally would.

"Ooohh..." She felt the blood rush to her face as she realized that his blatant stare was in admiration, not disgust. "Honestly, Piccolo," she laughed awkwardly. "Did you expect me to still look nine months pregnant?"

After a moment, he shook his head. But it was more out of reflex than sincerity. Egads, he looked bewildered. Stupefied. It was flattering, but she felt like covering herself. His stare was downright uncomfortable… Very male.

_But it can't be 'male',_ she thought curiously, and then it dawned on her that he was reacting like that for her benefit. She started to laugh…so much so that she had to rest her hands on her knees and hang her head. Piccolo was full of more surprises than anyone she'd met in her life. He was an entirely different person than she'd thought.

"I know what you're trying to do, and it isn't necessary. I'm already feeling better, Piccolo, so you don't need to try and puff up my self-esteem anymore," she said, chuckling. He frowned confusion, still playing along.

When Chi Chi composed herself better, she placed her hands on her hips and scrutinized him, shaking her head. "You know, Piccolo, you're awfully in tune with my feminine emotions for not having any females in your species."

And odd assortment of expressions crossed his face right then and seemed to settle on pensive. He looked down at Goten, who was squirming pleasantly in his arm. "We did, once."

"What?"

He looked her in the eye rather seriously. "Have female nameks."

She gawked at him, recalling what Gohan had told her about their species. She lifted her eyebrows for him to continue. _This I've got to hear…_

His gaze rested on the bundle in his arms again as he absently rocked the child. "A disaster struck Namek centuries ago, and killed them all. It killed everyone, actually, except Guru."

Chi Chi recalled Guru, the father of Piccolo's race. Stories like those weren't easily forgotten.

Piccolo cleared his throat. "Porunga, Namek's dragon, altered his body to be able to reproduce without a female counterpart. But as a result, he could only have sons."

Chi Chi gawked, and found herself sitting slowly at the base of the stairwell. "_Really…_" She said, intrigued, now seeing Piccolo in an entirely new light. "So nameks _are_ all male."

Piccolo nodded, and then hesitated, a frown crossing his expression. "Male without the desire to procreate…" he looked down, but not before she caught a purple tinge to his emerald cheeks. "Sexually."

"What? He took away your sex drive?" she blurted out, barely making it a whisper in time for Gohan's sake upstairs.

She got the impression he would have crawled under the sofa if he could fit. This topic was _way_ out of his comfort zone. "There was no need for it, as he'd passed on a way to create life without it. And considering that the sex drive is responsible for a good majority of the crimes on most planets, he repressed it in his children. That's why nameks are so peaceful…"

"Except you," she snorted.

His eyes flung open and he gaped at her as if she'd just discovered his darkest secret.

_Huh?_ "You're about as peaceful as a raging tempest," she laughed.

He blinked and then visibly relaxed, exhaling audibly. Then he frowned at her, obviously done with namekian history 101. "Go exercise, woman. I won't be available all morning, you know."

"Tell me one more thing," she insisted. "Did you always know this?"

"No."

"Did Kami?" She recalled the fusion of the two.

"No."

"Then how did you-"

"Nail," he said. "I fused with him on Namek during the fight with Frieza, and he was Guru's personal assistant."

She sat there, dumbstruck. "Who'd have thought…" Then she grinned. "So you're like a _eunuch._"

He snarled at her. "GET GOING."

She hopped up, smiling and ran out the front door.

* * *

. 

Piccolo watched her silently through the front window as she jogged into the trees, unable to peel his stare away until Chi Chi was out of sight. Trembling slightly, he put the baby down who had fallen asleep during their brief conversation, and went to hold his mouth under the kitchen faucet, guzzling great swallows of water.

_That_ conversation wasn't one he'd ever planned on having with Goku's widow. As Piccolo thought about the curve of her body and the inviting warmth of her smile, he wondered how long it would be before he divulged the real dilemma of that story; the one that started and ended with the fact that _he_ wasn't one of Guru's sons.

_I'll keep it from her,_ he thought as he looked up to the heavens, remembering a certain Saiyan whose only request was to help raise a boy.

_I have to._


	7. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 7 _**

**FOUR YEARS LATER**

"Now look at me," Piccolo said reassuringly as he squatted down to meet the panicked boy's eyes. "I'll be here when you get out. I promise."

Goten sniffed, his chubby hands clasped together under his chin with his child eyes as wide as they could go with fear. As he looked at the boy, Piccolo felt a pang of regret. _This preschool thing was your mother's idea, kid. Not mine._

Chi Chi had tried to comb down the boy's black, spiky hair, but naturally, on the flight over it had sprung right back up. She had also painstakingly dressed him up in a long-sleeve button up shirt with blue slacks to offset it. When she wasn't looking, Piccolo just up and removed that ridiculous bow tie under the kid's chin. He was only four-years old for crying out loud.

Goten's bottom lip quivered, and then opened in a cry. "I don't want to go!" Before Piccolo could get out of his way, the kid had tackled him, clinging heartily to Piccolo's rib cage under his armpit.

"_Agh_…Goten…"

"YOU didn't go to preschool!" He muffled into Piccolo's vest. Piccolo clutched at the kid, but the grip only tightened.

"I didn't have a mother," Piccolo countered in vain. Finally he was able to pry the boy loose, and held him out in front, pegging Goten with a consoling gaze. "If you go, then I'll take you to see Dende this afternoon. Deal?"

Goten sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth, and searched Piccolo's face for sincerity. "Really?"

Piccolo sighed and nodded. This boy was more emotional than Gohan ever was. _You know, it's a good thing your older brother broke me in before you came along, kid, or else I would have been a lot less understanding and lot more mean._

Suddenly, the teacher came out. She was a young, frail woman with a pleasant smile and friendly demeanor. She looked at Piccolo and winked, having met him at one of Chi Chi's school board meetings. It was Chi Chi, after all, that had implemented an elementary school in their small town. She'd become quite entrenched in the politics of the community and was already making considerable changes.

The benefit was that people knew who Piccolo was now, and treated him with respect instead of fear. An entire town. It blew his mind.

"Goten! I'm glad you're here!" the woman cried out in one of the cheeriest voices Piccolo had ever heard. "Come on. You'll like the activities we've got planned for the day." She came up and gently steered Goten away from Piccolo.

The warrior found himself resisting a sudden urge to snatch the kid back and fly away. Goten took three hesitant steps with her, and then looked back at Piccolo.

It pained the namekian to see the forlorn expression on the boy's face. "Go on. I'll be here when you get out," he said again.

Goten stuck his finger in his mouth looked at the lady, and then back at Piccolo. He suddenly broke free and lunged at the namek, wrapping his tiny arms around his thick, green neck. "I love you, Piccolo!" he cried. Then he hopped down and bounced through the preschool doors, teacher en tow.

Piccolo rocked back on his heels, feeling as though someone had just grabbed his vital organs, and squeezed them. _Your mother taught you to say that…_ His eyes stung. _Hell, Chi Chi. You might break me, yet…_ Before his vision could blur any further, he sprung off the pavement into the sky, heading home.

He hadn't been flying for a minute before Chi Chi saw him from the town hall below. She waved at him to wait, and he hovered there until she finished talking to her co-workers.

He smiled internally as he watched her. Without the stress of poverty and single parenthood hanging over her head, Chi Chi had transformed into a stunning woman. And Piccolo couldn't help but feel a bit proud. That once-rare smile that always sent his heart thumping was now an almost permanent fixture on her face. Granted, she was still a spitfire, but now it was balanced out by charisma, drive, and self-confidence.

She had started working part time for the town in an effort to organize a local school district. And now that she had gotten that ball rolling, she left it in the hands of others so that she could run for mayor - something she'd put off until Goten had started preschool and Gohan enrolled in high school.

_Chi Chi. In politics… _The thought had horrified him, as it was one of the most abused structures of the human society. Yet she seemed to bring integrity to the system. It was her niche.

And his niche was with her, and her sons. The family that Goku had left behind had filled a chasm in his soul that he never wanted to admit was there. And even though he could never bring himself to say it, Piccolo knew his feelings for them ran deep. _Very_ deep. He could tell by how peaceful and complete he felt in their presence, and how fiercely devoted he was to their well-being.

Chi Chi smiled brightly as she flew up next to him. Her shiny, black hair was cut in one of those full-bodied fashions, obsidian ringlets dangling about her neck and face as she bobbed in the air. Piccolo chuckled inwardly. Flying was something she'd learned with difficulty, never having mastered the art. She was clumsy in the air, but the woman could care less. It got her from point 'A' to point 'B', and that's all she needed it for.

"So how did it go?" she asked.

"Now I know why," he paused when he noticed a group of men down below gawking up at them. It struck him as odd, considering that everyone in town had seen them flying around by now. Then his eyes followed their gaze and fixed on Chi Chi's attire.

_Hn. Typical. _… The laced camisole was made modest by the blue suede jacket wrapped over it, but her skirt on the other hand was a little too flattering. It hung a several inches above her knees, showing off her shapely legs to him, and a great deal more to those below…

He snorted, stifling a quick urge to decimate the voyeurs where they stood. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her after him, and at her confused stare, he smirked, "Your devout co-workers are looking up your skirt."

She gasped and her face flushed in embarrassment. Then just as quickly it darkened in anger. "Those _pigs_…" She tried to fly back, but Piccolo tugged her onward.

"Just be more cautious of who's on the ground next time you ascend," he said, and then looked ahead. "_It's not like you can blame them_," he added quietly, under his breath.

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing," he mentally thwacked himself, wondering how in the hell she hadn't figured out his secret in all these years. It's not like he was capable of hiding it very well, like he used to be. They spent too much time together.

But for all the moments she'd caught him staring, or giving uncharacteristic compliments, or hanging around in the evenings just to spend an extra half hour listening to how her day went after the kids were asleep, the woman never caught on. It was something that both relieved, _and_ frustrated him.

It's not like he had any idea what to do about it. He was a fighter, and fighting was all he knew how to do. At times he'd even considered seeking out the Don Juan of them all, Yamcha, for advice. He shuddered, wondering how quickly the rumors would have started, had he followed through. _Thank heavens I changed my mind about that idea._

"So how did your early morning meeting go?" he asked in an effort to stop thinking about little things, like how her neck angled in a perfect 'L' against the soft curve of her jaw line, or how the wind pressed her skirt against her thigh, delineating the muscle underneath.

Chi Chi shrugged, the earlier offenses forgotten. "We mapped out the campaigning for the next couple of weeks. It won't be too demanding, considering the town is so small." She looked at him anxiously then, her arms stretched out before her in flight. "Enough about me. How did it go with Goten?"

Piccolo snorted. "I know why you wanted ME to do it," he grumbled. "That boy is too pampered, Chi Chi. He's fighting separation anxiety when Gohan, at that age, was fighting full-grown Saiyans."

Chi Chi grinned, her eyes glistening slightly. "Maybe he's more like his mother, that one," she said wistfully.

"Hn." _That would explain why I'm nuts about the kid, then,_ Piccolo thought soberly.

They arrived at the house, and descended.

* * *

. 

"Come inside," Chi Chi said to him when they landed. He eyed her suspiciously.

"If you want me to do the dishes, then you can forget it. I already paid my dues today when I took Goten to preschool this morning," he called after her. "That wasn't easy, you know, sending him off like that…" Despite the gruff tone, he'd followed her inside anyhow. She shut the door behind him.

"I know," she said, and couldn't help the smile that split her face as she looked at him - upset because saying goodbye to the little cherub had been tough on his emotions. _You were so callused, once, Piccolo, _she thought, remembering the perpetual frown he once donned. _Perhaps all you needed was the opportunity to love. _"Well, that boy is crazy about you, just like Gohan was when he was little."

"Hn."

She chuckled inwardly. _That's right, big man. I know you're smiling on the inside._ She walked over to the table and started to sift through the week's mail.

He sighed heavily behind her. "They're both…growing up so fast," Piccolo said quietly. Something in his tone made her eyes water, just then. She looked up at the warrior who had become much more to her family that Gohan's trainer. His wistful gaze was resting on a picture of Goten and Gohan on their living room wall, his mouth part open as though to somehow express his thoughts without voicing them.

_But you don't need to voice them. I know you by now._ She took him in in his entirety. He was wearing a white, straight-legged pants and matching vest that Chi Chi had tailored for him and to everyone's surprise, he wore them more often than not. And hanging on a leather strap around his neck was an ugly, misshapen bit of clay that Goten had given to him last year that was supposed to be an image of Gohan.

She smiled, and then she wondered where they would be now if Piccolo had let her scare him off all those years ago. _I'd still be a miserable old hag,_ she conceded. _And Gohan and Goten would have been raised in dysfunction. _

Chi Chi shook her head in wonderment, as she for the first time ticked off a mental checklist of all the positives Piccolo had brought their family. _You pulled us out of poverty, even though you never needed a job to survive, you've been a committed father figure to both my sons - spending quality time with each of them, schooling them in attributes they could never learn from a book… _

And you've made me into something worthwhile, an ornery widow that would have fed you to the dogs had she the chance. And you've given me your friendship, which is almost as precious to me as my children…

"You're staring at me…" his baritone voice startled her out of her reverie.

Her vision focused and she was indeed staring at him, but instead of flushing and turning away, she smiled at him as her eyes blurred with tears. _It's time you thanked him, Chi Chi. _"You know Piccolo," she said in a choked voice, "I think the best thing Goku ever did for this family…was to send us _you._"

He blinked, and his expression froze as she chewed her bottom lip between her teeth. _Ugh… Never could be grateful without getting emotional…_ "Thank you," she breathed. "For everything."

She half-expected him to dismiss her gratitude. It's what he would have done several years ago, but instead he gazed at her, eye ridges lifted in emotion as his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. He wanted to say something. She was sure of it.

"You don't have to say anything back, Piccolo," she said in an effort to break the tension. "I'm just thanking you. It's something I should do way more often-"

"Chi Chi," he said, his voice almost a whisper. "There's something I…have to tell you," he swallowed. "About me."

Whatever inner conflict Piccolo was experiencing was evident by quick breaths, twitching hands, and a strained face. Chi Chi had thought she'd never seen his expression so open and honest. She stepped towards him, taking his trembling hands in her own.

"Piccolo, what is it?" she asked, concerned. "My word, you look terrified…"

He shook his head, and Chi Chi suddenly felt winded. The intensity in his eyes sucked the breath from her lungs. "You remember what I told you about Guru, and how he replenished our kind?"

Chi Chi nodded, and her gaze dropped. She thought she could see the heart palpitations in his chest right then.

"Do you remember the…_restrictions_…he put on his sons?"

She frowned, recalling the sexual dampener bred into the namekian race. "Yes…"

"My sire..." he paused to take a deep breath, "...escaped Namek _before_ the disaster."

"Okay..."

"He was a whole namekian, untouched by Guru's magics..."

She studied him, more than a little alarmed. _What are you battling Piccolo, that's making your palms sweat, and your speech stuttered? _

He pursed his lips and searched her face for understanding. Not finding it, he stammered on, approaching whatever 'it' was at a different angle. "I said to you once that I didn't understand what Goku saw in you," he whispered, locking her in his gaze. "Well now I do," he breathed as he lifted a hesitant hand up to trace a talon along the curve of her jaw. "I understand…_everything."_

The gesture hade her heart lurch, and Chi Chi felt her eyes start to widen as her mind whirled up in a mental tumble, picking up bits and pieces of his conversation, clue after clue, and smattering them up on a psychological collage. One thread lead to another and then she saw it in the way that he was looking at her, the way he was breathing, the way he was touching her face. _My word. Is he trying to say-_

The phone rang.

* * *

. 

Three seconds. Piccolo held his tongue for the three unbearably long seconds it took for the light of comprehension to ease her expression. But no sooner had her visage changed than the offending, bleating sound of the phone cut through the moment like a hacksaw.

Piccolo silently cursed it. _No, dammit! Not now!_

Chi Chi stepped back out of his reach, not taking her eyes off him. She almost looked as if she'd been doubting the moment they'd just had.

_It was real, Chi Chi! I meant it! _But for all that he thought it, the words couldn't make it past his throat.

The phone rang again, and with one final awkward glance in his direction, she picked it up.

If there was ever a moment when Piccolo wanted to destroy civilization, then that was it, if only to do away with such invasive objects.

His ears picked up Gohan's voice, but the teenager's words were too muffled in Chi Chi's ear to decipher them. Piccolo clenched his fists. Agh, _Gohan! You and I are going to have an extra rough sparring match this afternoon, kid._

Suddenly, Chi Chi gasped, and a hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes were wild and staring. She slowly hung up the phone, looking for all the world as though someone had died. _Or worse…_

"What is it?" Piccolo asked.

She met his eyes, nothing but naked shock in her expression, "It's Goku," she said weakly. "He's coming back."


	8. Chapter 8

**_Chapter 8 _**

Chi Chi watched Goten's reaction carefully when Gohan gave him the news. She'd returned to work after the phone call, and who knows where Piccolo flew off to. Either way, neither of them knew how to tell the four-year old, and so they just plain didn't.

"My…father?" Little Goten asked as he looked up into Gohan's ecstatic face.

"You're gonna love him," Gohan said. "He's the happiest guy around."

"But…" Goten eyed him, perplexed. "I already have a 'Piccolo'."

Piccolo's back was turned to them, but she saw his ears twitch. The warrior seemed more disturbed at the news than she was.

Gohan started laughing. "Well, you can have both." Then he looked over to Chi Chi, totally undaunted by her lack of enthusiasm. "He said he was going to stop by Master Roshi's first, and then Capsule Corp, before he came home," he said. "And he also told me that the nameks were gathering the dragonballs as we speak to wish him back to life."

Piccolo spun around, his eyes open in horrified surprise. "WHAT?" he barked. "You mean he's coming back permanently?"

Gohan nodded, unsure what to make of the namekian's reaction. Chi Chi knew what to make of it, though. For some reason, the thought of her dead husband coming back unsettled her as well. She found her eyes scanning the immediate surroundings; the new two-story home, the little four-year old boy who was all smiles and emotions, her attire, and resulting job that had given her a sense of self…

Then she realized what was bothering her. Everything had changed in the past five years. The place he was coming home to was no longer his home. The woman he was coming home to wasn't the Chi Chi he once knew. The life they lived now was productive and forth-going, not distracted and stagnant. How was she going to let him back in? After all this time? And at the same time, who was she to lock him out? He was her husband…

Then as if in answer to her thought, Goku materialized right next to Gohan with a halo over his head. He wore the same old orange gi. "Hi guys!" he waved, his eyes disappearing in his smile. Same spiky hair, same carefree manner, same _everything…_

"DAD!" Gohan went up and bear-hugged him, and for all her hesitation, Chi Chi couldn't deny that the moment was touching. "Gosh. It's so good to see you!"

Goku pulled back and looked appraisingly at his oldest son. "Wow, Gohan. You're almost taller than I am," he smiled. "And strong too."

"I've reached a third level!" The teenager just blurted out, smiling at Goku's honest reaction.

"Really? You're kidding! That's GREAT!"

Gohan laughed heartily, too happy to do anything else.

Goku turned and saw Piccolo, who to Chi Chi's surprise seemed just as closed and distant as when he'd first come to them; arms folded stiffly across his chest, his eyes narrowed to the point of closing, the muscles in his jaw twitching…

"Hey Piccolo!"

The namekian's expression seemed incredibly strained. "Hello, Goku."

"Who ya got there?"

Chi Chi hadn't realized that Goten had been hiding behind Piccolo, with both fists wrapped tightly in the warrior's pant leg. He hesitantly peeked his head around and when he saw Goku looking at him, he ducked back.

Goku chuckled, and squatted down to Goten's eye level. "I heard about you, little guy," he said tenderly. Goten blinked at him and then up at Piccolo.

Chi Chi thought that Piccolo's eyes seemed unbelievably pained. "It's alright, Goten," he said quietly.

Goten hesitantly stepped out from behind Piccolo and Goku reached up and tousled his hair. "Wow. You look a lot like me. Lucky kid."

Goten smiled a little, and looked shyly at his feet.

Goku laughed, and then noticed the house. "Is…is this our house?" he asked stupidly, in awe of the large, two-storied structure.

Gohan nodded. "Piccolo got a job that was able to pay for it. Mom was real glad."

"Wow." Then he laughed. "I bet she _did_ appreciate it. She always wanted me to get a job." At her mention, Goku scanned the area for his widow. When he found her leaning against an old totem Gohan had whittled, he startled. The smile seemed plastered on Goku's face while a myriad of other emotions danced in his eyes. "Chi Chi…" He got up and walked over to her, taking in her clothing, her hair, her body… Her stomach felt like it was tying itself in knots.

"You look…_amazing_…"

The compliment, and the sincerity behind it would have flattered her beyond belief, had she been the same person as when he'd left. Instead, his flattery almost offended her. "I've changed, Goku," she said, unsure what her intended effect was.

Goku's eyes hungrily fixed on her and after a few seconds, he flushed, laughing nervously. "Yes, you have." He hooked an arm around her waist, and looked over to Piccolo, who, for some reason, looked as though he were about to explode. "Well, Piccolo," he called out, hugging Chi Chi against him. "I owe you big, my friend, for helping to raise Gohan. I wouldn't have had anyone else do it. Now that I'm back, I guess you're off the hook," he said giddily. "You're the best!"

Chi Chi felt the blood rush to her cheeks. _He can't just dismiss him like that! _Piccolo's face opened and closed in an intense, but unidentifiable expression, and he spun his back to them, and sprung up into the sky without a word.

_This is wrong,_ Chi Chi thought. _This is very, very wrong. _Then as if in echo to her mind, Goten suddenly filled the clearing with an ear-piercing wail.

"NO!" He screamed, the tears already choking up his helium-pitched voice. His little legs raced after the green warrior, even though he couldn't have possibly caught him. "Come back, Piccolo! Don't leave!" He tripped and fell, only to roll back on his feet and scramble frantically up the nearest tree. "You can't go!" he cried, clinging to its branches. "You _can't…!"_

Chi Chi's eyes watered immediately. Gohan flew up and tried to console the sobbing boy as Piccolo's form disappeared over the nearest row of mountains.

"Wow…little guy was really attached to him," Goku said in wonderment.

_You have no idea,_ Chi Chi thought remorsefully. And again, subliminal alarms were sounding in her head. There was more to Goku's return that wasn't right. If she could only pinpoint it…

"I missed you, Chi Chi," he said as he wrapped his other arm around her and locked her in his admiring stare. It triggered memories, and soon shreds of reasoning started to flutter through her mind.

She was familiar with the way Goku was looking at her. It was the way Piccolo had been looking at her for the past four years, in some silly mockery of male lust. She never did get his hu…mor…

Pieces of their conversation played back, the memory of his deep, masculine voice tickling her ears. _'my sire…untouched by Guru's magics…I understand…everything…'._

Her breath caught in her throat.

"What's wrong?" Goku asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

"You," she said, bewildered, and then met his eyes solemnly. "You don't belong here."

"Huh?"

"Piccolo does."

* * *

. 

Chi Chi had left immediately after getting her closure with Goku. She headed in the direction of a horrible power that had flared up minutes after Piccolo had left. It wasn't long before she found him in the hollow of a small cave. When she set foot down, the namek looked half-crazed. _Of course he would be teetering on insanity's edge, _she thought painstakingly. _He thinks he just lost his family. _

He was crouched down on all fours in the gravel, his trembling hands imbedded in the dirt as if to sunder the very planet apart with his brute strength. His head hung heavily between his oscillating shoulders, and she could hear a heart-bleeding blend of whimpers and rasps emanating from his mouth. White-hot energy blitzed and sparked off him like a loose cable in the rain, and she wondered if he even knew she was there…

"Piccolo…" she whispered.

His head slowly lifted, his fanged teeth clenched tight, the muscles in his jaw jumping in spasms… His face creased in anguish when he saw her, and water stood in his eyes. It looked as though he was barely containing an explosive, destructive energy.

_"How…can he just give me a family,_" he choked, his voice a raw and low rumble. "only to take it away after five years?"

Her breath hitched, and her eyes stung. He had to know that Goku was out of the picture… "Piccolo-"

"My soul…_aches_…for all of you," he stammered on, as if every word were his last. "I was there when Gohan reached a third level," he growled, his eyes wet with hurt. "I was there for Goten's first step…his first word," he choked. "And you!" His gaze rested on her then, grimacing in unease. _"I can't bear the thought of him touching you_!"

Chi Chi could have told him then that he hadn't lost them. That they were his, and Goku was sent packing. She could have reassured him with her words…

But words couldn't even begin to portray how she felt. Feeling a sudden surge of aggression, Chi Chi marched up to him, and grabbed his face with both hands. His shimmering eyes widened in surprise as she uprooted him from his spot, and outright bulged when she kissed him.

He gasped against her lips, the shock of it making him fall back on the floor of the cave. It wasn't enough. He went from anguished to confused, so before he could ask, she pinned him bodily and kissed him again.

Piccolo's form went instantly rigid, like a possum in the path of a bobcat. So she worked the lip lock passionately, moving over him until she felt the light touch of his fingertips on her sides, and he hesitantly...slowly began to kiss her back.

But it wasn't until his warm, heavy arms curled around her completely and his mouth became as desperate and frantic as her own, that she was finally satisfied that all of his negative energies had dissipated.

The quick patter of his heart thumped against her palm on his chest, and she released him so that he could speak, running her lips along the curve of his jaw instead.

"I…" his speech was slurred, and she looked up as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and closed. "…don't… understand."

She exhaled against his throat and traced a finger along his collarbone. "Everything I have, and everything I am, is because of you, Piccolo," she whispered, "I had a choice, and have made my decision," she breathed, feeling her own tears tickle her cheeks in warm, wet lines. "I love you."

A small moan, and he hugged her so forcefully then that it nearly chased the breath from her lungs. Then she felt the tingling sensation of his talons as they combed against her scalp, pulling her into another kiss.

Her lids fluttered shut, but not before she caught the moisture leaking out the corner of his eye. _It's okay, green man. I know you love me, even though you can't bring yourself to say it,_ she thought as she basked in the warmth of his embrace and the taste of his kiss.

_That can come later._

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Continued in GOKU AND BULMA**


End file.
